The present invention relates to a time management system, and more particularly to a sheet or series of sheets for personal time management over a number of days.
Daily "diaries" or day planners for business purposes come in a wide variety of forms. Most consist however of pages having sections setting out each day in a calendar year, each such daily section being subdivided into portions representing times within the day. A particular activity scheduled for a particular time in a particular day is entered onto the relevant sheet in the relevant portion. A change in scheduling of that activity to another time or another day necessitates rewriting the planned activity in the space corresponding to the new time, and crossing off or erasing that activity from the section represented by the original time planned for it. There have been few improvements or deviations from such a standard format of time management instruments over the years.
In some known forms of time management planning diaries, individual sheets are set up on a weekly basis, with sections for each day and for times within each day, in which to write scheduled activities such as meetings, appointments and the like. In addition, on each such sheet representing a week's time period, there may be provided a section apart from the day sections, in which may be written activities scheduled generally for that week but not having a particular planned time of occurrence. There may be a number of sections identified by headings such as "PHONE", "WRITE", "SEE", "DO", and the like. One such diary is described and illustrated in Canadian Pat. No. 645,203 of Beltrami issued July 24, 1962.
Such known time management instruments are intended primarily as appointment books and, in some instances, as combined appointment diary and work planner (listing work to be done) or appointment diary and time log (as to what in fact was done). Usually a day planner or appointment book does not suitably serve as a time log--another set of sheets is normally used in conjunction with such records, the user setting out at the end of each day or week his accomplishments for that particular week.
Other calendar type diaries of general background interest include Canadian Pat. No. 184,972 of Robichon issued June 18, 1918, U.S. Pat. No. 4,218,077 of Ember issued Aug. 19, 1980 and U.S. Pat. No. 4,319,771 of Yglesias issued Mar. 16, 1982.
Other references of general background interest, not relating to personal time management instruments, but relating generally to time scheduling of actions or events, are U.S. Pat. No. 2,295,102 of Fisher issued Sept. 8, 1942 and U.S. Pat. No. 3,785,681 of Jackowitz issued Jan. 15, 1974. Neither of these references teaches nor suggests a format for a sheet which would be useful for daily time management and organization by an individual.
It is thus an object of the present invention to provide a time management system for an individual which will combine on a single page an appointment agenda, a work plan and a time log for that individual over a period of time. It is a further object of the present invention to provide an appointment planning sheet in which removal or transfer of information relating to the appointment as a result of changes in time of that appointment are minimized. It is a further object of the present invention to provide a readable, comprehensive time management instrument which minimizes the need for writing and maximizes the space for writing of intended activities.